Sir Anthony van Dyck
(1599-1641), PainterSitter associated with 30 portraits
Artist associated with 1023 portraits
Sir Anthony van Dyck was by far the most influential painter to have worked in Britain during the seventeenth century. Flemish by birth, he found patronage in a number of European countries, but his longest stay was in England, which he made his home from the beginning of his second visit in 1632 until his death in 1641 (with a break back in Antwerp in 1634-5). While his predecessors from the Low Countries had brought to Britain hints of what painting might become, it was van Dyck who decisively turned British portraiture away from the stiff, formal 'iconic' approach of Tudor and Jacobean painting. In England he developed the distinctive fluid, shimmering style that was to dominate portraiture in Britain not just during the seventeenth century but right up until the early years of the twentieth century. Rewarded by his most famous patron, Charles I, with a knighthood, his enduring influence - and a sense that it would be impossible to better him - was universally recognised and remarked on not only by his contemporaries but also by his successors.
More on van Dyck: In focus: Anthony van Dyck | Van Dyck A Masterpiece for everyone
Watch a film clip on the artist from the BBC Archive in the Media section below
after Sir Anthony van Dyck
oil on canvas, feigned oval
NPG 603
after an engraving by Robert van Voerst, after Sir Anthony van Dyck
brown wash
NPG 3128
Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland
reduced copy after Sir Anthony van Dyck
oil on canvas
NPG 287
after Sir Anthony van Dyck
oil on canvas, 17th century, based on a work of circa 1632-1635
On display at Bendigo Art Gallery, Bendigo, Australia
NPG 227
Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford
after Sir Anthony van Dyck
oil on canvas, circa 1633, based on a work of circa 1633
NPG 1077
Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford
after Sir Anthony van Dyck
oil on canvas, circa 1633, based on a work of circa 1633
On display at Lyme Park, Stockport
NPG 2960
by Sir Anthony van Dyck
oil on canvas, circa 1633-1634
On display in Room 5 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 5727
Thomas Howard, 14th Earl of Arundel
after Sir Anthony van Dyck
oil on panel, 17th-19th century, based on a work of circa 1635
NPG 519
after Sir Anthony van Dyck
oil on canvas, based on a work of 1635-1636
On display at Banqueting House, London
NPG 843
after Sir Anthony van Dyck
oil on canvas, based on a work of 1635-1637
On display at Kensington Palace, London
NPG 2137
after Sir Anthony van Dyck
oil on canvas, based on a work of 1635-1637
NPG 1906
Mountjoy Blount, 1st Earl of Newport; George Goring, Baron Goring
after Sir Anthony van Dyck
oil on canvas, based on a work of 1635
NPG 762
after Sir Anthony van Dyck
oil on canvas, 17th century, based on a work of circa 1635
NPG 892
Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke
reduced copy after Sir Anthony van Dyck
oil on canvas, based on a work of 1635
NPG 1489
James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby
after Sir Anthony van Dyck
oil on canvas, feigned oval, based on a work of 1636-1637
On display at Gawthorpe Hall, Burnley
NPG 90
after Sir Anthony van Dyck
oil on canvas, based on a work of 1636
On display in Room 5 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 171
Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford
studio of Sir Anthony van Dyck
oil on canvas, circa 1636
On display in Room 5 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 4531
Five Children of King Charles I
after Sir Anthony van Dyck
oil on canvas, 17th century, based on a work of 1637
On display at Bendigo Art Gallery, Bendigo, Australia
NPG 267
studio of Sir Anthony van Dyck
oil on canvas, circa 1638
On display at the Queen's House, London
NPG 5705
Lord George Stuart, 9th Seigneur of Aubigny
by Sir Anthony van Dyck
oil on canvas, circa 1638
On display in Room 5 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 5964
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